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39268

	registered interest
	date	21/02/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the implementation of the so-called Eve's Law.
	tabling member constituency	Rochester and Strood
	tabling member printed	Mark Reckless
	uin	188752
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the issue of domestic violence very seriously and is committed to ensuring greater protection for victims of all forms of violence.</p><p> </p><p>The issue raised by the Eve's Law campaign is complex and cuts across a number of justice jurisdictions, and into many areas of a victim's interaction with the state and other agencies.</p><p> </p><p>Having considered the issues raised by the campaign this Department is not persuaded that primary legislation is the necessary and appropriate way forward. However, we are committed to taking action to improve the protection of personal information of victims and will identify opportunities in the cross-Government programmes that are tackling the priority issues of domestic and sexual abuse.</p><p> </p><p>I refer the Honourable Member to my response to questions raised in the House by Dan Jarvis MP, Honourable Member for Barnsley Central, regarding the Eve's Law campaign, on 17 December 2013, and 14 January this year (Hansard 14 Jan 2014 : Column 480W, 17 Dec 2013 : Column 607).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Ashford answering member printed Damian Green question first answered 31/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 76 label Biography information for Damian Green
	tabling member	4049 label Biography information for Mark Reckless

36160

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Integrated Offender Management model piloted in the London Borough of Islington on reoffending rates in that area.
	tabling member constituency	Rotherham
	tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
	uin	186075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Office. Integrated Offender Management is an important approach to cutting crime and reoffending in local areas. One of the key strengths of the approach is that the local model should be responsive to local needs and priorities as identified by the agencies and the partners in the area. For this reason, we have not imposed any particular model of Integrated Offender Management on areas, nor do we performance manage from Whitehall the crime and reoffending outcomes that local partners in areas such as the London Borough of Islington may be achieving through their local approach.</p> answering member constituency Ashford answering member printed Damian Green question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 76 label Biography information for Damian Green
	tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

41013

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in each category of prisoner who have absconded from prisons since May 2010 remain at large.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	190263
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>Releases in error are taken very seriously and action has been taken to tighten processes and focus managers' attention in this area. Releases in error are infrequent and all incidents are subject to investigation.The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. In the 12 months to September 2013 there were 46 releases in error from prison, which equated to 0.06% of all discharges from prison. This compares to 68 in 2009-10.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of prisoners who have not subsequently returned to custody following a release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013 and broken down by the security category recorded on the National Offender Management Information System. This information is accurate as of 4 March 2014.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1 Number of prisoners not subsequently returned to custody following release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Category C</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female (Closed)</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>It is important to note that not all prisoners released in error will be unlawfully at large and subject to recall. For example, they may be unconvicted prisoners released in error whose cases have been concluded since their release without a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p><em>The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.</em></p><p> </p><p>The number of absconds has come down sharply from a level of 947 in 2002-3 to 204 in 2012-13.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of absconds, by month between May 2010 and March 2013. Table 3 shows the number of absconders still unlawfully at large, by category, having absconded between May 2010 and March 2013. It is not possible to provide details of absconds by category of prisoner. The category of prisoner at time of release in error is not recorded in incident reports and live data shows details of the current security category only; it has therefore only been possible to provide the category of those who are currently unlawfully at large (table 3). Prisoners held in immigration removal centres are not subject to security categorisation. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2 Number of absconds between May 2010 and March 2013, by month </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of absconds</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 10</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 10</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 10</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 10</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 11</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 11</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 11</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 11</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 12</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 13</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Table 3 Number of prisoners unlawfully at large following abscond between May 2010 and March 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>D</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not categorised</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p>Escapes from transit include escapes from Prison Service and Contractor Escorts. The majority of escorts take place without incident and escapes whilst in transit are rare; there have been 10 since May 2010. This should be seen in relation to the 871,802 prisoners handled by the escort service in 2012-13 alone.</p><p> </p><p>Table 4 shows the number of escapes in transit, in each month between May 2010 and March 2013. All these prisoners have subsequently been recaptured.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 4 Month and category of prisoners who escaped in transit between May 2010 and March 2013</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>Cat B</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Potential Category A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of both escapes and absconds have reduced significantly in recent years. Figures for the number of escapes and absconds since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 190140 190287 190288 question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

41019

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many escapes by prisoners there have been while being transported, by category of prisoner, in each month since May 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	190287
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>Releases in error are taken very seriously and action has been taken to tighten processes and focus managers' attention in this area. Releases in error are infrequent and all incidents are subject to investigation.The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. In the 12 months to September 2013 there were 46 releases in error from prison, which equated to 0.06% of all discharges from prison. This compares to 68 in 2009-10.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of prisoners who have not subsequently returned to custody following a release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013 and broken down by the security category recorded on the National Offender Management Information System. This information is accurate as of 4 March 2014.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1 Number of prisoners not subsequently returned to custody following release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Category C</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female (Closed)</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>It is important to note that not all prisoners released in error will be unlawfully at large and subject to recall. For example, they may be unconvicted prisoners released in error whose cases have been concluded since their release without a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p><em>The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.</em></p><p> </p><p>The number of absconds has come down sharply from a level of 947 in 2002-3 to 204 in 2012-13.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of absconds, by month between May 2010 and March 2013. Table 3 shows the number of absconders still unlawfully at large, by category, having absconded between May 2010 and March 2013. It is not possible to provide details of absconds by category of prisoner. The category of prisoner at time of release in error is not recorded in incident reports and live data shows details of the current security category only; it has therefore only been possible to provide the category of those who are currently unlawfully at large (table 3). Prisoners held in immigration removal centres are not subject to security categorisation. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2 Number of absconds between May 2010 and March 2013, by month </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of absconds</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 10</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 10</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 10</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 10</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 11</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 11</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 11</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 11</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 12</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 13</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Table 3 Number of prisoners unlawfully at large following abscond between May 2010 and March 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>D</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not categorised</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p>Escapes from transit include escapes from Prison Service and Contractor Escorts. The majority of escorts take place without incident and escapes whilst in transit are rare; there have been 10 since May 2010. This should be seen in relation to the 871,802 prisoners handled by the escort service in 2012-13 alone.</p><p> </p><p>Table 4 shows the number of escapes in transit, in each month between May 2010 and March 2013. All these prisoners have subsequently been recaptured.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 4 Month and category of prisoners who escaped in transit between May 2010 and March 2013</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>Cat B</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Potential Category A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of both escapes and absconds have reduced significantly in recent years. Figures for the number of escapes and absconds since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 190140 190263 190288 question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

41020

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many absconds from prison there have been, by month and category of prisoner, since May 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	190288
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>Releases in error are taken very seriously and action has been taken to tighten processes and focus managers' attention in this area. Releases in error are infrequent and all incidents are subject to investigation.The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. In the 12 months to September 2013 there were 46 releases in error from prison, which equated to 0.06% of all discharges from prison. This compares to 68 in 2009-10.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of prisoners who have not subsequently returned to custody following a release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013 and broken down by the security category recorded on the National Offender Management Information System. This information is accurate as of 4 March 2014.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1 Number of prisoners not subsequently returned to custody following release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Category C</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female (Closed)</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>It is important to note that not all prisoners released in error will be unlawfully at large and subject to recall. For example, they may be unconvicted prisoners released in error whose cases have been concluded since their release without a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p><em>The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.</em></p><p> </p><p>The number of absconds has come down sharply from a level of 947 in 2002-3 to 204 in 2012-13.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of absconds, by month between May 2010 and March 2013. Table 3 shows the number of absconders still unlawfully at large, by category, having absconded between May 2010 and March 2013. It is not possible to provide details of absconds by category of prisoner. The category of prisoner at time of release in error is not recorded in incident reports and live data shows details of the current security category only; it has therefore only been possible to provide the category of those who are currently unlawfully at large (table 3). Prisoners held in immigration removal centres are not subject to security categorisation. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2 Number of absconds between May 2010 and March 2013, by month </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of absconds</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 10</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 10</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 10</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 10</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 11</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 11</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 11</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 11</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 12</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 13</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Table 3 Number of prisoners unlawfully at large following abscond between May 2010 and March 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>D</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not categorised</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p>Escapes from transit include escapes from Prison Service and Contractor Escorts. The majority of escorts take place without incident and escapes whilst in transit are rare; there have been 10 since May 2010. This should be seen in relation to the 871,802 prisoners handled by the escort service in 2012-13 alone.</p><p> </p><p>Table 4 shows the number of escapes in transit, in each month between May 2010 and March 2013. All these prisoners have subsequently been recaptured.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 4 Month and category of prisoners who escaped in transit between May 2010 and March 2013</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>Cat B</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Potential Category A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of both escapes and absconds have reduced significantly in recent years. Figures for the number of escapes and absconds since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 190140 190263 190287 question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

41035

	registered interest
	date	03/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of each category of prisoner released from prison in error since May 2010 are still at large.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	190140
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2014 answer text <p>Releases in error are taken very seriously and action has been taken to tighten processes and focus managers' attention in this area. Releases in error are infrequent and all incidents are subject to investigation.The majority of prisoners released in error are returned to custody quickly. In the 12 months to September 2013 there were 46 releases in error from prison, which equated to 0.06% of all discharges from prison. This compares to 68 in 2009-10.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the number of prisoners who have not subsequently returned to custody following a release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013 and broken down by the security category recorded on the National Offender Management Information System. This information is accurate as of 4 March 2014.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1 Number of prisoners not subsequently returned to custody following release in error from prison between May 2010 and September 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Category C</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Female (Closed)</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>It is important to note that not all prisoners released in error will be unlawfully at large and subject to recall. For example, they may be unconvicted prisoners released in error whose cases have been concluded since their release without a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p><em>The number of releases in error may change should further incidents be reported.</em></p><p> </p><p>The number of absconds has come down sharply from a level of 947 in 2002-3 to 204 in 2012-13.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of absconds, by month between May 2010 and March 2013. Table 3 shows the number of absconders still unlawfully at large, by category, having absconded between May 2010 and March 2013. It is not possible to provide details of absconds by category of prisoner. The category of prisoner at time of release in error is not recorded in incident reports and live data shows details of the current security category only; it has therefore only been possible to provide the category of those who are currently unlawfully at large (table 3). Prisoners held in immigration removal centres are not subject to security categorisation. Over 97% of prisoners who abscond are re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2 Number of absconds between May 2010 and March 2013, by month </strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of absconds</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 10</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 10</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 10</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 10</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 10</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 10</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 11</p></td><td><p>11</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 11</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 11</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 11</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 11</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 11</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 12</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 12</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 12</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 13</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Table 3 Number of prisoners unlawfully at large following abscond between May 2010 and March 2013, by category</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>D</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Not categorised</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><em>These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. </em></p><p> </p><p>Escapes from transit include escapes from Prison Service and Contractor Escorts. The majority of escorts take place without incident and escapes whilst in transit are rare; there have been 10 since May 2010. This should be seen in relation to the 871,802 prisoners handled by the escort service in 2012-13 alone.</p><p> </p><p>Table 4 shows the number of escapes in transit, in each month between May 2010 and March 2013. All these prisoners have subsequently been recaptured.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 4 Month and category of prisoners who escaped in transit between May 2010 and March 2013</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Month</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Category</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 10</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 11</p></td><td><p>Cat B</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 11</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 12</p></td><td><p>Potential Category A</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November12</p></td><td><p>Uncategorised</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of both escapes and absconds have reduced significantly in recent years. Figures for the number of escapes and absconds since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225234/prison-performance-digest-12-13.xls</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 190263 190287 190288 question first answered 01/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

35511

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount is of fines (a) issued by the courts and (b) uncollected was in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	185484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The value of fines imposed, collected, cancelled and outstanding for the periods from April 2011 onwards are set out below.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>Value of fines imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fine collected in the same period they were imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fines cancelled in the same period they were imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fines imposed outstanding at the end of the period</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2011 to December 2011</p></td><td><p>£170,962,169</p></td><td><p>£54,843,753</p></td><td><p>£12,470,347</p></td><td><p>£103,648,069</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2012 to December 2012</p></td><td><p>£273,944,704</p></td><td><p>£70,032,092</p></td><td><p>£17,470,412</p></td><td><p>£186,442,200</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2013 to September 2013 (latest published period)</p></td><td><p>£210,561,372</p></td><td><p>£44,541,677</p></td><td><p>£11,548,807</p></td><td><p>£154,470,888</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The values above only refer to fines and not any other elements of financial impositions such as prosecutor costs, compensation and victim surcharge. Where financial impositions are paid by instalments the fine element is the last part to be paid off after compensation, victim surcharge and prosecutor costs. The values cancelled can relate to legal or administrative cancellations. The value outstanding will include amounts remaining on accounts that are being paid by instalments or were not due for payment by the end of the period specified.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to provide data in this format for any period prior to April 2011 as new performance management information was introduced at that time. It is not possible to identify how much of the amounts imposed in 2011 or 2012 remained outstanding by the end of September 2013 (latest published data period) as data is only available for 18 months after the date imposed – after that it is not possible to extract the amount outstanding for a specific period from the total balance outstanding.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012/13 and collection has continued to rise in this financial year. At the end of September 2013 total collection (all imposition types excluding confiscation orders) was higher than the same point in the previous year and the outstanding balance had reduced since the start of the financial year. On average over the last 12 month 69% of accounts have been either closed or are compliant with payment terms by 12 months after imposition.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 185483 question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

35512

	registered interest
	date	28/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount is of fines issued by the courts between 2010 and 2013 which remain uncollected.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	185483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The value of fines imposed, collected, cancelled and outstanding for the periods from April 2011 onwards are set out below.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>Value of fines imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fine collected in the same period they were imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fines cancelled in the same period they were imposed</p></td><td><p>Value of fines imposed outstanding at the end of the period</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2011 to December 2011</p></td><td><p>£170,962,169</p></td><td><p>£54,843,753</p></td><td><p>£12,470,347</p></td><td><p>£103,648,069</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2012 to December 2012</p></td><td><p>£273,944,704</p></td><td><p>£70,032,092</p></td><td><p>£17,470,412</p></td><td><p>£186,442,200</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2013 to September 2013 (latest published period)</p></td><td><p>£210,561,372</p></td><td><p>£44,541,677</p></td><td><p>£11,548,807</p></td><td><p>£154,470,888</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The values above only refer to fines and not any other elements of financial impositions such as prosecutor costs, compensation and victim surcharge. Where financial impositions are paid by instalments the fine element is the last part to be paid off after compensation, victim surcharge and prosecutor costs. The values cancelled can relate to legal or administrative cancellations. The value outstanding will include amounts remaining on accounts that are being paid by instalments or were not due for payment by the end of the period specified.</p><p> </p><p>It is not possible to provide data in this format for any period prior to April 2011 as new performance management information was introduced at that time. It is not possible to identify how much of the amounts imposed in 2011 or 2012 remained outstanding by the end of September 2013 (latest published data period) as data is only available for 18 months after the date imposed – after that it is not possible to extract the amount outstanding for a specific period from the total balance outstanding.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012/13 and collection has continued to rise in this financial year. At the end of September 2013 total collection (all imposition types excluding confiscation orders) was higher than the same point in the previous year and the outstanding balance had reduced since the start of the financial year. On average over the last 12 month 69% of accounts have been either closed or are compliant with payment terms by 12 months after imposition.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 185484 question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

35841

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Courts and Tribunal Service spent on interpreters in 2011, 2012 and 2013; how much was spent on interpreting each language in those years; and how much was paid by defendants towards these costs.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mark Hendrick
	uin	185824
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not hold centrally all of the information that the Honourable Member has requested. Although we can not provide all the data on spend for the periods requested we can provide the annual spend for interpreters sourced through the Capita-TI Contract for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service as below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Calendar Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£7,940,128.79</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£15,537,821.29</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Off Contract bookings made by HMCTS are outside of these spend figures. The number of bookings made off contract has substantially decreased since the start of 2012 with those bookings moving onto the Capita TI contract. This move from off contract to Capita TI is reflected in the changing year on year contract spend.</p><p> </p><p>Spend for 2012 is based on an 11 month period as the contract did not go live until 30th January 2012. Expenditure has also increased in the second year of contract due to changes made to the contract in May 2013 and an estimated 20% increase on volume. £15m was saved in year one of the contract.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In this instance to provide the requested information on total annual spend and spend by language, would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £850.00 or 4 ½ working days.</p><p> </p><p>In order to provide the information we would be required toobtain a number of large reports from electronic databases. The relevant data must then be manually extracted and collated. It would also require comparison against additional financial data before analysis. We estimate that this process for the spend data would take approximately 6 working days given the volume of data involved.</p><p> </p><p>Defendants in criminal cases do not contribute towards the costs of interpreters that are provided by HMCTS. Charges for HMCTS provided interpreters in civil, family and tribunal cases are not passed directly to parties, although the costs may be recovered from court and tribunal fees in the jurisdictions where they apply.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

35851

	registered interest
	date	29/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what value of confiscation orders were (a) issued and (b) uncollected in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Tooting
	tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
	uin	185720
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The value of confiscation orders imposed and the amounts outstanding for those orders, both with and without interest, as at 30 January 2014, for the calendar years from 2010 onwards, are set out in the Table A below. The volume of orders imposed and those that remain outstanding is in Table B</p><p><strong>Table A</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Value of Confiscation Orders Imposed</p></td><td><p>Order Balance Remaining to Collect Excluding Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>£276,143,735</p></td><td><p>£167,176,784</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>£187,128,205</p></td><td><p>£73,910,472</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>£271,998,720</p></td><td><p>£162,286,156</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>£245,728,131</p></td><td><p>£176,875,895</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>£980,998,791</p></td><td><p>£580,249,307</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table B</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Volume of Confiscation Orders Imposed</p></td><td><p>Volume of Orders with an Order Balance Remaining to Collect Excluding Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td><td><p>Total Volume of Orders to Collect Including Interest</p><p>As at 30/01/2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>6,214</p></td><td><p>915</p></td><td><p>2,289</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>6,286</p></td><td><p>1,065</p></td><td><p>2,342</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>6,458</p></td><td><p>1,386</p></td><td><p>2,399</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>6,139</p></td><td><p>2,500</p></td><td><p>3,141</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>25,097</p></td><td><p>5,866</p></td><td><p>10,171</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Confiscation orders are one of the key mechanisms available to the Government to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. The value of the order imposed, which is often very high, is based on the criminal benefit attributed to the crime and may, therefore, exceed the value of realisable assets that are known to the Court at the time of imposition. Crucially, an outstanding order stops the criminal benefitting from the proceeds of crime and ensures that, if the assets are discovered in the future, they can be seized.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and other enforcement agencies take the issue of recovering criminal assets very seriously and are working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide.</p><p> </p><p>Although, as the Enforcement Authority, HMCTS owns the debt, it is not always the lead enforcement agency. HMCTS tends to lead on the high volume, low value orders. Prosecution agencies, including the CPS and the Serious Fraud Office, lead on enforcement where they have put Restraint Orders on the defendant's property to protect the asset, or where the professional expertise of an Enforcement Receiver will be required to enforce the confiscation order.</p><p> </p><p>All outstanding amounts are actively pursued using a range of enforcement tools open to us. A confiscation order is a life time order and only amounts up to £50 can be written off. Default sentences of up to 10 years in prison are activated for non payment. Serving the default sentence does not cancel the debt and we will continue to pursue the amount owed. Interest is added to the order balance outstanding at the rate of 8% per annum. The fact that interest accrues at such a high rate and amounts over £50 cannot be written off, contribute to the increasing level of debt. At the end of December 2013, the total amount outstanding was £1.47 billion, of which £372 million was interest alone. At the end of December 2013, including interest £24 million is owed by defendants who are deceased and a further £86 million is owed by defendants who have been deported. Even for those that are deported we still try to actively pursue the defendants assets held abroad, but we rely on the cooperation of overseas enforcement agencies, which is often not forthcoming. The Agencies responsible for enforcement are building better relationships with overseas authorities and engage specialist forensic teams to track down hidden assets.</p><p> </p><p>The amount defendants repaid from their criminal activity across all agencies reached an all time high during 2012/13, with a total of £133.1 million recovered. That represented a 7% increase on the £124.1 million recovered during 2011/12. The total amount recovered has increased for the last four consecutive years and once again we are on course to have another record breaking year this financial year. For the 2013/14 financial year, at the end of December 2013, £102.8 million had been recovered, which is an increase of 2% on the £100.5 million that was collected up to December 2012. Since 2008/09, when £98.8 Million was recovered, the amount collected from criminals has increased by 35%.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS is seeking a commercial partner to help increase collections, reduce enforcement costs and importantly, ensure more criminals pay. A new national system has been implemented to manage the collection of fixed penalty notices, with all of the Police Forces having transferred to the new platform by June 2013.The continuing improvement the Agencies are making combined with our future plans will ensure that more criminals pay and that taxpayers get better value for money.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Cambridgeshire answering member printed Mr Shailesh Vara grouped question UIN 186101 question first answered 02/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1496 label Biography information for Shailesh Vara
	tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan